New York bombing suspect arrested after shootout

A suspect wanted for questioning over the bombings that rocked New York City and New Jersey is in custody after being wounded in a shootout with police.

The suspect, believed to be Ahmad Khan Rahami, was discovered asleep in the doorway of a New Jersey bar, authorities said.

WABC-TV footage showed a man believed to be the 28-year-old being loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher in Linden, New Jersey. He appeared to be conscious and looking around.

Two officers were wounded in the gun battle but were not believed to have been seriously hurt, authorities said.

FBI officers during the search of an apartment that is tied to Ahmad Khan Rahami (Mel Evans/AP)

Linden mayor Derek Armstead said that the owner of a bar reported someone asleep in the doorway of his business. A police officer went to investigate and recognised the man as Rahami, police and the mayor said.

The arrest came just hours after police issued a bulletin and photo of Rahami, a naturalised US citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Commissioner of the New York City Police Department James O'Neill confirmed the arrest on Twitter.

Thanks to alert area residents and dedicated law enforcement officers. Now...our investigation continues. Call TIPS line w/ any information. pic.twitter.com/QamY5TkDSl

Authorities said the blasts were looking increasingly like an act of terrorism with a foreign connection.

Police did not disclose how they zeroed in on Rahami as a person of interest in the bombing investigation but were known to be poring over surveillance video. At the same time, five people who were pulled over in a vehicle on Sunday night were being questioned by the FBI, officials said.

The shootout came after a weekend of fear and dread in New York and New Jersey.

In addition to the blast that injured 29 people in Manhattan's Chelsea neighbourhood on Saturday, an unexploded pressure cooker bomb was found blocks away, and a pipe bomb exploded in a New Jersey shore town before a charity race.

No one was injured there. On Sunday, five explosive devices were discovered in a rubbish bin at an Elizabeth train station.

Citing the FBI, New Jersey State Police said on Monday that the bombings in Chelsea and the New Jersey shore town Seaside Park were connected.